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Roxanne Modafferi
| birth_place = Wilmington, Delaware | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | residence = | nationality = American | height = | weight = | weightclass = | reach = | style = Kempo, Muay Thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu | stance = | fightingoutof= Tokyo, Japan | team = Freelance | rank = | yearsactive = | mmawins = 14 | mmakowins = 1 | mmasubwins = 4 | mmadecwins = | mmalosses = 5 | mmakolosses = | mmasublosses = | mmadeclosses = | mmadraws = 0 | mmancs = | url = | sherdog = | footnotes = | updated = }} Roxanne Modafferi (born September 24, 1982 in Wilmington, Delaware) is an American female mixed martial artist. She is currently the #2-ranked 135-pound female fighter in the world according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings. Biography Modafferi's training began in taekwondo as a teenager in Pennsylvania, moving on to Mark Lawler's Kempo Karate two years later. Full of confidence, she then began attending the Dalton Judo Club in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Her description of the experience is: "I thought I was all cool, like the movie stars, but then I learned what it was like to fly." She went on to gain a brown belt in the style, but her training was cut short when she left to study at the University of Massachusetts. Three months before her studies began, a fellow brown belt brought her to a Royce Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu association in Adams, Massachusetts, where she trained intensively for three months. Modafferi majored in Japanese Language and Literature with a minor in Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts. While at college, she found the Amherst Athletic club, where New England Submission Fighting is based. In addition, she trained at another Royce Gracie association in Hartford, Connecticut for about a year (necessitating a weekly two hour round trip), also investigating Jeremy Libiszewski's School of Self-Defence in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Next came Joao Amaral's New England BJJ club, now associated with Brazilian Top Team. Modafferi says, "Those guys are tough as concrete is hard, and beat my weaknesses out of me when they found them." To work on her striking, she also attended the Sityodtong Muay Thai Academy's North American branch in Somerville, Massachusetts, run by Kru Mark DellaGrotte. Modafferi spent September 2003 to June 2004, her junior year, in Tokyo, Japan. This enabled her to compete in a number of NHB and BJJ competitions, where she eventually achieved a 3-0 record in the Smackgirl promotion and defeated Jennifer Howe (who, at that time, was considered to be the best female fighter in the US, if not the world) in HOOKnSHOOT. In Japan, she trained at the Cross Point club in Kichijouji, which taught both Muay Thai and BJJ. She hopes to one day write a book about her experiences during that time, having already contributed several articles on the topic. After graduating in May 2005, she secured a position with Berlitz, teaching English in Japan and arriving for the second time in July 2005. Modafferi earned a win by split decision against Cassandra Blaso at Fatal Femmes Fighting on 2 February 2007. She became K-GRACE Women's Open-Weight Tournament Champion on 27 May 2007 by defeating Hee Jin Lee, Megumi Yabushita and Marloes Coenen. Roxanne defended her FFF title against Vanessa Porto at FFF 4 - Call of the Wild on April 3, 2008. She won the fight in the third round by TKO. She signed a contract with the American Fight League and was scheduled to face Tara LaRosa at the AFL‘s November event, but fought instead at the debut Valkyrie event in Japan after the AFL's plans stalled. Modafferi moved up a weight class and made her long-awaited Strikeforce debut in a rematch with Marloes Coenen on November 7 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers, but lost via armbar. On January 30, 2010, Modafferi submitted Molly Helsel in the second round at King of the Cage: Toryumon in Okinawa, Japan. MMA record Accomplishments * IFC Women's Middleweight Champion * NAGA Fighter of the Year 2002 * Smack Girl World Remix Tournament 2004 Third Place * Abu Dhabi Competitor 2005 * Fatal Femmes Fighting Lightweight Champion 2007 * K-GRACE Women's Open-Weight Champion 2007 References External links * * MAMMA-Online.com interview * MiddleEasy.com interview * Fightergirls.com Profile * Full Contact Fighter * Iron Life interview (Nov. 2004) * Biography * Modafferi's article on Japan from Bout Review USA * Roxanne Modafferi's Official myNetSpot * Roxanne at MySpace See also *Gallery *List of female mixed martial artists ja:ロクサン・モダフェリ Category:Female mixed martial artists Category:American mixed martial artists Category:American practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Category:Female Brazilian-Jiu-Jitsu practitioners Category:Italian American boxers Category:Wajitsu Keishukai Category:Living people Category:1982 births